The Asian side showed pride on the efforts they made to keep their third round chances
Lodz, Poland, September 15, 2014 - Even after knowing whether they were going to make through the third round or not, Iranian captain Marouflakrani and coach Slobodan Kovac underlined they did everything possible from their side.
Serbia captain Dragan Stankovic: "It's always difficult to find motivation in a game that won't matter any more, but it's also never good to finish the tournament with a loss. I can only wish good luck to Iran and hope that they will make it into the third phase. They played really beautiful volleyball for the whole tournament, they deserve it."
Iran captain Mir Saied Marouflakrani: "After yesterday's battle we went to sleep at 4am... Serbia made it difficult for us, even though the result wouldn't help them. This gives us chances to go to the next round, but we have to wait and see what happens in the next games. It's quite hard that despite our good level, we still have to wait and maybe count small points to see if we go further. From our side, we did all we could."
Serbia coach Igor Kolakovic: "We have missed our opportunity to play in the next round earlier, so this match wasn't about the result. I'm happy with the performance of my team and young players for the first three sets, yet I wasn't satisfied with the way we gave up in the last one. Now all I can say is good luck to team Iran."
Iran coach Slobodan Kovac: "As a Serbian, I know how strong they are and how good they can play, but we were lucky because Serbia played without the pressure and it was probably easier to win these three points. I was afraid how we will play after yesterday's loss, but I'm happy for the result. It may be not enough to advance, we must wait and see, but this tournament is already fantastic for us."